That time of year again

OK, I think we’ll take all the digs about journalists going off that nice Mr. Darling because of the hikes on alcohol as read – suffice it to say a lot of us will be binge buying very quickly.

There’s a lot of positive stuff in this budget, though – and after Northern Rock there needed to be. It won’t meet the approval of every business; increased tax on larger cars is going to appease the green lobby but not people who need the vehicles for their livelihood, for example. The money to get people back to the workplace is welcome, though, as is the small drop in corporation tax. CGT remains untouched, in case anyone was wondering but the small firms loan guarantee’s pot will be increased and there will be funds available to get women into business.

Nothing dramatic or unexpected, then. There is more tinkering; the law that would have stopped husbands and wives splitting their tax allowance is delayed which is a relief as many thought it would be unworkable.

The really fun bit, though, is the threat to start taxing plastic bags if shops don’t start charging for them. It will be entertaining to watch the inevitable backlash against this one. At the moment loads of people have agreed that plastic bags are a bad thing, in fact I’ve seen only one view questioning the received wisdom that they are harmful. Noticeably I haven’t seen much coverage of the actual science behind getting rid of them. I wonder how long it will be before someone starts asking: are you *sure* about this..?

Guy Clapperton is a freelance journalist who specialises in small business issues and has written for the likes of The Guardian, the FT and the Daily Mirror. Guy has written about finance and franchising for SmallBizPod. http://www.guyclapperton.co.uk